Etosha National Park Day 1

It was easy to see how it got its name, which means great white place, as a quarter of the 20,000 square km was a flat depression that was once a deep inland lake. The white clay pan has small shrub surrounding it which is where most of the wildlife can be found, particularly surrounding the waterholes. Our first afternoon in the park was unbelievable. We were constantly seeing animals, including giraffes, 9 black rhino, elephants, zebras, Damara dik-dik (small 'Bambi') and blackface impala, native to Etosha. On our rush to get to the campground before sunset and the gates were locked we spotted a leopard. This time we sat and watched it as it walked along only 25 meters from us in the shrubs, a very lucky find as they are so hard to spot. Once at camp Halali we spent till late at night sat by the waterhole waiting for visitors and we didn't have wait long as there were spotted hyena, jackel, honey badgers, monitor lizard and two rhinos that weren't happy to see each other. Yet again, another highlight of Africa.Read more